John Renaldi moved frequently as a child but always thought of his grandfather's cottage in Saugatuck, Michigan, as home. He also visited his other grandfather on a farm in Indiana.
After high school, Renaldi's father asked him to join the family business, a textile-treatment factory. He started on the loading dock and throughout the years worked his way up to plant manager, which came with a lot of responsibilities and with a nice salary.
Renaldi bought a beautiful home in a suburb west of Chicago, but there were a lot of family issues in the business. The commute to and from the factory was horrible and John just wasn't happy. His wife was very supportive of whatever decision he made, so he decided to leave and go to a place that felt like home, southwestern Michigan.
After Renaldi decided to leave the Chicago area, he bought a run-down 38-acre farm about two miles from Saugatuck, Michigan. He named his spread Bella Vista Farm and spent six months restoring the house and barn.
While he was restoring the farm, Renaldi worked as a carpenter's helper and line cook to bring in some money. He spent four years experimenting with the farming lifetsyle, feeding his goats and sheep and collecting eggs from the chickens. A neighbor who grew organic blueberries suggested Renaldi try something similar, so he bought 57,000 raspberry plants. He and his wife tilled the land and handplanted the berries. They brought in some help for the harvest and picked the berries by hand. They sold the berries to local grocery stores and gourmet restaurants, but soon discovered this was not going to be a profitable venture.
Renaldi was able to produce about 3,000 pounds of berries per acre, while larger farms on the West Coast were reaping about five times that amount from each acre. Determined to make it on his own terms, Renaldi soon found an old-fashioned recipe to save the farm.
Because selling fresh raspberries wasn't paying the bills, John Renaldi decided that the key to getting out of his jam was to make jam. They started with two varieties of jam--raspberry and blueberry. Initially things were a bit slow. They could only make about 10 jars to a batch of berries, and a 10-hour day of hard work resulted in about 100 jars of jam. Labor costs were pretty high, so Renaldi pitched the jam to the gourmet-food industry.
Demand increased and after a couple of years, Renaldi automated the production line, bringing in machines to fill, cap and label the jams. The farm now boasts more than 10,000 square feet of warehouse and processing space. They also produce several varieties of jams, including blends with names like Razzle Dazzle, American Berry, Mt. Baldy Berry and Michigan Mix. They also have a line of organic products distributed to grocery stores, and they sell other organically produced items such as peanut butter, honey and popcorn.
Unfortunately, John's marriage ended as the business was picking up and he moved into a nearby lakeside cottage. After investing much of his own savings as well as some borrowed money in the venture--not to mention a lot of hard work--Renaldi has seen business pick up and expects to start turning a profit soon.
His new home in Holland, Michigan, is not far from the farm. The house is about 110 years old and was restored and remodeled by the previous owners, though Renaldi did a bit of painting and wallpapering.
Now that he has enough employees to work the farm, Renaldi uses what little free time he has to go boating. He also loves to swim and hike and feels very fortunate to live in this area. He's happier now and more of a giving person, and has gotten closer to his family. The good life for him is being at peace and enjoying the simple things. Renaldi feels that the most important thing is how one gets along with other people and being a good person to other people.
Guests John Renaldi
Owner, Bella Vista Farms
2850 63rd St.
Fennville, MI 49408
Phone: 616-857-7400
Toll Free Phone: 866-237-8526
Fax: 616-857-4866
Email:
sales@bellavistafarm.com
URL:
www.bellavistafarm.com
Also in this Episode
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